#dontreadthecomments #netgalley #InkyardPress #HarlequinPress #EricSmith #gamerfiction #gamerchicksrule #YAfiction #booknerd
Hey friends and welcome back for another one of my blog tour reviews!! First and foremost I want to thank Harlequin and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read this book before it’s release date. This book is now in stores and available online for purchase, and I highly recommend that you get yourself a copy of Don’t Read The Comments by Eric Smith. It truly is a powerful and fun read! Parents, this would be a great book for you to read and share with your young teenage children (especially girls) who love to play online video games. It has such a powerful message with a heartwarming cast of characters.
I have been a big fan of Eric Smith just from following the Book Riot’s Hey YA! Podcast that he cohosts with Kelly Jensen. I was so incredibly excited to be able to read a new release of his. Eric has such an incredible passion for YA, and even Middle Grade literature, and it definitely shows in his writing. So, that being said, let’s tell you more about the book and then get to my review. 🙂
Don’t Read the Comments Â
Eric Smith
On Sale Date: January 28, 2020
9781335016027, 1335016023
Hardcover
$18.99 USD, $23.99 CAD
Ages 13 And Up
368 pages
Summary:
Slay meets Eliza and Her Monsters in Eric Smith’s Don’t Read the Comments, an #ownvoices story in which two teen gamers find their virtual worlds—and blossoming romance—invaded by the real-world issues of trolling and doxing in the gaming community.
Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.
Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.
At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…
And she isn’t going down without a fight.
Author Bio:
Eric Smith is an author, prolific book blogger, and literary agent from New Jersey, currently living in Philadelphia. Smith cohosts Book Riot’s newest podcast, HEY YA, with non-fiction YA author Kelly Jensen. He can regularly be found writing for Book Riot’s blog, as well as Barnes & Noble’s Teen Reads blog, Paste Magazine, and Publishing Crawl. Smith also has a growing Twitter platform of over 40,000 followers (@ericsmithrocks).
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Read-Comments-Eric-Smith/dp/1335016023
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dont-read-the-comments-eric-smith/1131303425#/
Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Dont-Read-Comments/Eric-Smith/9781335016027?id=7715580291810
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/don-t-read-the-comments
Indie Bound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335016027
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Eric_Smith_Don_t_Read_the_Comments?id=Go6PDwAAQBAJ
Social Links:Â
Author website: https://www.ericsmithrocks.com/
Twitter: @ericsmithrocksÂ
Instagram: @ericsmithrocks
Facebook: @ericsmithwrites
My Review:
I instantly fell in love with Divya Sharma, our main character, and her passion for family and to fight back in the face of social injustice. There really is nothing that I love more than a fiery, young female protagonist and Eric Smith did just that with Divya. Her love and loyalty to her mother is so raw and endearing. Then we have Aaron, a passionate young man who just wants to make a go of it on his own to pursue his passion of writing scripts for video games, even if it’s not what his parents want for him. The two family dynamics really made this whole story incredibly relatable. I really loved that Divya is a live gamer and has such a huge following, yet Aaron just does it for fun. The game that they play, Reclaim the Sun, sounds so amazing that I really wish it was real. I’d love to play it!!
Then enter the issue of cyber bullying. This is always going to be an ongoing issue in our society, especially because the internet makes it so easy for cowards and psychos to hide behind made up internet personalities so they can target minorities. The issue of the target being a young girl of ethnic background helps bring the issue to the forefront. I did feel that the detective was a little hokie with her speech on creating a task force to take care of it in the area, but the focus was on the kids and the cyber-bullying so it was a minor irk of mine. I absolutely loved the ending, and without giving too much away because no-one loves spoilers, it had me jumping onto my feet and cheering! As I finished the last page I had a cheesy grin on my face, which I would expect nothing less from Eric Smith.
This is a great story about how no-one should put up with bullying, regardless of where it happens or who it happens to. It is not ok, and you have every right to speak up and get help! It’s too easy now a days for instances like this to happen online, and I felt that Don’t Read The Comments was a great way to bring issues like this to light and to show that gamer chicks totally rock! I gave this book a 4 out 5 star rating on goodreads, and have already recommended it to many of my bookish friends. I’ll be sharing this review on my facebook groups that I admin (The Reading Corner Book Lounger and Stay Bookish), as well as my Instagram. So, feel free to find me on all of those and give my posts some love!
Thank you for checking out another review for the many blog tours I signed up for. I would love to hear if you’ve read this book or have it on your radar, and if you do pick it up I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Positive Vibes and Happy Reading!
booksnbites 